‘Draw of lots best criteria to admit students’

Parents feel the procedure of first-come-first-serve is a mere eyewash. “There is no fair play involved as schools give admission according to their whims and fancies. It has rarely happened that just the first 100 students get through. This is the reason why parents have to apply in so many schools,” said Kavita,a mother.

Agreed Viren Sood,another parent,“If the schools are so sure about this being an unbiased method,then they should tell parents once they receive the required number of forms. On the contrary,they encourage us to apply in their school so that they have a larger stock to choose from.”  

Of the over 70 private schools,only a handful including St Kabir and St Anne’s give admission on the basis of a draw of lots.

Meanwhile,schools claim it is parents who want to keep more options in hand. “Parents want to try their luck at all schools possible. We do not stop taking forms once they exceed the number of seats as many of them never come back and we have to fill the seats. But the final admission lists are finalised on first-come-first-serve basis only,” claimed ABS Sidhu,director,Saupin’s School.

H S Mamik,director,Vivek High School,said the school gives preference to students whose siblings are already in the school. “This method decreases chances of a bias as this is followed by the student’s residence’s proximity factor to the school. If there are still some seats left after that,then it is allocated on first-come-first-serve basis,” he said.

Mamik,however,agreed that the process was not completely fair. “The best criterion should be a draw of lots. It is up to the school to follow this rather than some order thrusting it upon them,” he said.